His grandfather taught him how to weld at age eleven. A hands on, self-taught sculptor, with an ever expanding mixed media studio, James Ciosek builds most of his own equipment. He graduated from NYU in 1993 with a degree in Mass Media and quickly entered the art, design, and artisanal scene in New York City. He studied glass bending, casting, stained glass, lamp work and mold making at Flickinger Glassworks, NYC, and neon at Brooklyn Glass, NYC. For ten years Ciosek learned blacksmithing with Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil, the largest and most active A.B.A.N.A. chapter in the country. He chalks up twenty years of experience as a welder/fabricator, and is currently exploring new techniques for glass enamel on metal and vacuum forming of plastics.

Ciosek has run his own high end custom iron shop since 1999 and shifted his emphasis to sculpture in 2004 after his well received “Brownfield Flowers” exhibition at Cochran Gallery, Dayton, OH. Moving to Houston in 2006, the artist maintains a dedicated studio in the Northline district.